Customer Reviews (11)

Menachem Begin: Prime Minister and Misunderstood Fighter
Much can be said about Menachem Begin. As leader of the group Irgun/Etzel Menachem Begin formed the leadership of the violent resistance against British occupation in the Mandate of Palestine. He was one of the few who resisted the Labour Party's Hegemony over the Knesset then led the early Likud to victory in the 70s, to then make peace with Sadat's Egypt.

Begin chronicles his rise to the head of Irgun from his beginnings as a humble early Zionist imprisoned in a Russian gulag. He talks about one of his friends in the Gulag, a Jew who was the biggest supporter of Communism, then eventhough betrayed by the regime he supported still rallied to the Communist cause. Begin writes a very heart rending chapter how his friend's view changed from one of trying to shed his Judaism for a Communist identity, to one identifying with Zionism.

While solidly being anti-Communist, Begin was often accused of being a facist. His autobiography/history of Irgun totally disproves this lie created by many leftists. In addition most pro-Arab individuals claim that the State of Israel itself is an "imperialist invention," again just by reading The Revolt, one can easily deduce that Irgun's stated goal was one of anti-Imperialism (directed against the British). Another claim made by detractors is that Irgun was a terror group. After reading numerous histories of the group and supplementing it with this book the truth comes to light that Irgun never wanted the death of innocents, only those fighting against it, such as militant Arabs and British soldiers. Begin even shows regret to the innocents that were killed in attacks. I think one of the best sections involved the lies about the "massacre" at Deir Yassin. Begin proves that not only were the Arab inhabitants well armed but that they dressed as non-combatants and used non-combatants as human shields. He also talks about how the Arab media exploited a small battle like this and blew it up into a massacre. This book is a true myth buster.

Individuals interested in the early history and internal relations of the Jewish state, its relations with the Arabs, and the Irgun and Lehi operations against the British will find this book to be an incredibly thorough account. Begin talks openly about when the Haganna opened fire on the Irgun arms and refugee carrying ship Altalena. In addition to how he staved off a civil war with David Ben Gurion over who would lead the new Israeli state and its armed forces.

Begin was a great leader, statesman, and one who truley wanted a better future for his people.

How the Irgun helped the Levantine Jews win independence
The Levantine Jews had to fight the British for their freedom.The war truly began when Great Britain came up with the White Paper of 1939.And Begin, who led the Irgun, one of the Jewish groups fighting against Great Britain, was instrumental in helping the Jews win that fight.

The book starts with Begin being sentenced to eight years in a labor camp, on April 1, 1941.Begin's response was an involuntary "April Fool!"And the joke may have been on his persecutors, as Begin soon wound up in the Levant, where he quickly took over the leadership of the Irgun.

Begin states his reaction to the problems the Jews faced at that time.If your house is on fire, you do not wait for the fire department to arrive to try to rescue your family.By the time they get there, it may be too late.

Many people call the Irgun a terrorist group.But Begin explains that while both fighters for freedom and fighters for oppression may use violence to try to overthrow a regime, there is an inherent difference between them.Physical force was neither the aim nor the creed of the Irgun, which properly believed in the supremacy of moral forces.It was the British enemies of the Irgun which mocked morality.

Begin tells of the British order, in 1929, that the Jews not blow notes on their Shofars at the Western Wall.And we see the consequences of this ill-advised law.After all, even the Roman conquerors had allowed Jews to blow their Shofars there.

And we learn that, except during actual planned missions, the Irgun did not carry weapons.If they were stopped and searched, they were often released on the spot.

Begin tells of the Irgun's exploits.And the Altalena affair, in which Begin managed to escape and convince his troops not to start a civil war.

I was intrigued by the description of the battle for Deir Yassin.I've always regarded some of the wilder stories about this battle with some suspicion. Here is why. The Jews, with Jerusalem besieged, decided on April 1, 1948 to counterattack.This was really the first offensive by a Jewish army in centuries.Two key targets were Castel and Deir Yassin, vantage points which overlooked the endangered Jerusalem road.A Jewish failure to win any battles would doom Jerusalem.Thus the attacks a week later were unusual.I would have expected huge protests from the Arabs no matter what the outcome.

Of course, the Jewish army was inexperienced.And Begin's Irgun was especially inexperienced at such an attack.It fell for a bogus Arab surrender.It fell for tricks such as Iraqi soldiers dressed as women (with concealed weapons).Nevertheless, the Jews won that battle.It may not have been as big a battle, in terms of casualties, as Gettysburg or Stalingrad.But it was a part of a battle for freedom and human rights that saved Western Jerusalem and I think that is worth celebrating.

The author explains that the Arab complaints about the battle backfired, with many Arab civilians, believing wild stories about Jewish atrocities (and perhaps believing them even more given the tendency of Arab soldiers to engage in them), fleeing the battle zone.Begin claims this effect was very significant in saving the city of Tiberias, and made the attack on Haifa easier.

It is a fascinating book, and I recommend it.

A courageous and visionary leader
The story of the Irgun's revolt against British rule is told in this book by the organization's visionary leader Menachem Begin. Begin was a modest, courageous leader dedicated to achieving freedom for the Jewish people in the land of Israel. Time and again he made decisions which overcame his own narrow interest and served the people of Israel. One was in his decision not to fight back after the attack on the Atalena. Years later in events outside the scope of this book Begin in opposition backed the government fully in decisions of great weight and moment, such as the taking of the Old City in 1967 or the operation in Entebbe in 1976 . Here he tells of a troubled time in Jewish history when a desperate people struggled to realize a two thousand year old dream of restoring Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel. This is a highly readable work by a leader who the people of Israel loved perhaps more than any other in modern times.

Required reading for those interested in the birth of Israel
A fascinating account of the role of the underground army of Eretz Israel, known as the Irgun Zvai Leumi, by its commander-in-chief, and late Israeli statesman and Prime Minister, Menachem Begin.

A story known by relatively few, a first hand account of one side of the resistance movement that resulted in the birth of modern Israel.The Irgun was considered by many Jews and non-Jews alike to be a terrorist organization.After reading this book, one will find out why Israel would probably not have been created without the controversial efforts of the Irgun. One will similarly discover the difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist (even though Begin actually refers to himself as a "terrorist" in the book; possibly a result of no proper equivalent translation from the original Hebrew.Hint: a freedom fighter does not attack civilian targets.

After a brief introduction of Begin's earlier life as a prisoner of the Bolsheviks before the Nazi invasion of Poland, Begin recounts the history of the Irgun as its leader from 1943, until the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. The "resistance movement" consisted of David Ben-Gurion's Jewish Agency for Palestine, the semi-legal Jewish army known as the Haganah, and the underground movement of the Irgun (and a smaller break away underground army known as the Stern Group.Although the former and latter were at times allies, and at other times bitter enemies, the message of the book is how each group needed the other components to accomplish the goal of a free Israel.

With the fervor of a brilliant statesman, and the eloquence of a lawyer (which he was), Begin writes a gripping account of the history of the Irgun and its methods.The Irgun worked primarily by audacious "confiscation" of British arms and attack of military and British police installations with its primary weapon, dynamite.

Included are separate chapters of the most famous exploits of the Irgun, including the Altalena affair, Operation Chick, the blowing up of the south wing of the King David Hotel (which served as the seat of the civil and military British occupation authority), the battle for Jaffa, the counter-floggings and counter-hangings of British officers in retaliation for the same of Irgun Freedom fighters,

An especially fascinating chapter entitled "Meetings in the Dark" recounts Commander Begin's meetings with various dignitaries (such as Dr. Ralph Bunche) which were litterly held in a darkened room, so Begin could not be identified (he had a high price on his head by the British).

One cannot help, after reading this book, to appreciate the role of Begin (and his organization, the Irgun) played in ejecting the British from Eretz Israel, to form the modern State of Israel, and the stupidity of the infighting between the various components of the resistance movement (whose methods complemented each other).

Although the primary subject of the book is the history of the Irgun, the reader will no doubt become interested in the biography of the author, who later served in the Knesset, in the cabinet (as minister without portfolio), until he finally rose to power as Prime Minister of Israel in the late 1970's, and death in relatively obscurity shortly after his wife's death in the late 1980's.

My copy of "The Revolt" is the 9th English Edition, published in Israel by Steimatsky.It is personally autographed by Begin's late wife Aliza, January 1979.

A Great Narrative , written by a Great Leader.
Menachem Begin, was undoubtedly one of the greatest soldiers and leaders of the 20th century.
In this book he writes with great passion, depth, humour, love, humility, total honesty and total lack of bitterness.
It is the true story of the dreams of a nation to throw off 2 000 years of persecution, death and homelessness, and to re-establish a Jewish State in the eternal home of the Jewish people-Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel).
He writes of the struggles faced by the Jewish people, and particularly the brave young men and women of the Irgun Zvai Leumi, the Jewish Partisans of freedom, who gave all (often their lives) for the rebirth of a free and proud Jewish nation in their ancestral homeland.

While this is a true story, it is thrilling to read, and Begin proves that he is also an accomplished and entertaining writer.
He shockingly highlights the cruel role of the British in suppressing the Jews in their own homeland, including sending a million Jewish men, women and children back to Hitler's ovens, and the, cruelty displayed by the British occupation forces to captured Jewish prisoners.

We also learn how the British armed the Arabs and did everything possible, collaboration with the Arab forces, to try and ensure the total destruction of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel (i.e. a second holocaust)

This information makes it particularly sickening to see much of the British establishment, including the British media (epitomized by the hate speech of the likes of Robert Fisk, and the BBC), politicians like George Galloway and Tom Dalyell, academics like Tom Paulin and others, leading the international campaign to vilify and harm, while glorifying the terrorists that cruelly murder Jewish men , women and children.
They are showing the same callousness in regard to Jewish men, women and children being murdered today, as they did during the British Mandate.

I have noticed that it is quite popular in pro-Arab and anti-Israel circles to point to the brave fighters of Irgun Zvai Leumi and Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) and accuse them of having been terrorists , using the dangerous argument that `If the goal of establishing a homeland for displaced, disenfranchised people was valid for Begin and the Irgun, can the same not be said for the Palestinians?'

This is in fact grossly dishonest.

The Irgun and Lehi never, at any time, targeted civilians, and Begin describes in `The Revolt' how the Irgun took great pains to avoid civilian casualties, often at great risk to their own soldiers.

The Irgun specially planned the bombing of the King David Hotel (headquarters of the British occupation army) so that no civilians would be hurt, and warned the British in advance of this operation, urging all civilians and women to be evacuated. They even chose a time for the bomb when they thought that no civilians would be in the building.

The response of the British police official responding to the warnings was `We don't take orders from the Jews'.

The Irgun also never deliberately harmed Arab women and children and always took great pains not to do so, contrary to the anti-semitic myths.

Compare this to the deliberate aims of the PLO, Fatah-Tanzim, the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the PFLP, the DFLP, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah, and all other Arab terrorist organizations,to strike specifically at Israeliwomen and children , specifically choosing targets where the greatest death and injury can be done to them.

Arab homicide bombers by their own testimony search out the busses and bus routes where the most women and children traveled on, in order to target them.

Arab terrorists have entered Jewish homes and shot Jewish children in their beds.
The Irgun did none of this. So to use the struggle of the Irgun to justify Palestinian mass murder is reprehensible

Most importantly Menachem Begin highlights the indestructible spirit of the Jewish and Israeli people:

"If we learn and remember, we shall overcome our enemies, They will never succeed in enslaving us again. Never. Even if they overwhelm us we shall throw off their yoke...They will not break us.'

Those engaged in the current campaign to destroy Israel ,should remember those words.
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Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Menachem Begin, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1189 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
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Customer Reviews (1)

The great Begin
Menachem Begin was one of the greatest of all modern Jewish leaders. He was a disciple of Ze'ev Jabotinsky in pre-war Poland and already an important leader there. After he came to Eretz Yisrael he led the Irgun in its actions to remove British control over the Holy Land as step in establishing an independent Jewish state. He labored for long years as leader of the political opposition in Israel until in 1977 his Likud party became the first non- Labor head of a coalition in Israel.
When Begin first came to office he was decried by the Left in Israel and by the international media as a warmonger who would lead Israel to greater violence with its neighbors. He surprised everyone by appointing Moshe Dayan as his Foreign Minister and beginning a campaign for peace. He as Prime Minister thus led Israel to the signing of its first peace treaty with an Arab country, Egypt. For this he received the Nobel Prize.
Begin was a much beloved leader who made major efforts to help the poorer sections of the Israeli populace. He made the critical decision to bomb the Iraqi nuclear - reactor in Baghdad thus saving the world from the danger of a Saddam Hussein with nuclear weapons. In 1982 in an effort to prevent Palestinian terrorists under Yassar Arafat from continuing attacks on Israel he sent Israeli troops into Lebanon. This initially planned short operation was to become prolonged far beyond Begin's term of office. After the death of his beloved wife, and a worsening of his own health situation Begin resigned while still in office.
He is today considered by the people of Israel one of its most beloved leaders. He lived modestly was known for his Old - World gentlemanly good manners. He was a tremendously moving orator who in time would be longed for as a man of integrity even by many of his own former antagonists from the Left, such as Yossi Sarid.
Begin who lost his parents in the Shoah had a deep sense of Jewish history, a love for the Jewish people and a general humanity which made him seem to be on a higher level than most political leaders.
He fought for what he believed in, risked and sacrificed for it, set an example in courage and integrity of what a political leader should be.
May his Memory be blessed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A great leader of Israel
Menachem Begin was one of the great leaders of the people of Israel in modern times. His whole life was a struggle to help return Jewish sovereignty to the Holy Land, to build a state for the Jewish people in which they could live in security and freedom. His struggle began in his native Poland where he was initially involved in the Betar Movement under its charismatic leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky. It continued even when he was exiled to Siberia by the Soviets and when he released made his way to the Holy Land as a soldier in the Anders' Polish Army. In Eretz Yisrael he became the leader of the Irgun one of the leading groups which fought the Mandate and the British efforts at restricting Jewish immigration to the Holy Land. At the time of the struggle for Independance Begin showed his characteristic nobility and greatness when he refused to open a Civil War even though his people were attacked on the Altalena. This ability to be self- effacing to think of the overall well- being of the people of Israel characterized Begin throughout his life, and made him in the most beloved leader the people of Israel has known in modern times.

A portrait of one of modern history's greatest statesmen
Menachem Begin by Harry Hurwitz

Menachem Begin became the Prime Minister of Israel on 20 June 1977 and within months he attained unprecedented popularity and support becoming one of the greatest leaders his country had known. With faith, boldness and a special brand of leadership he brought about a change in mood and a veritable economic revolution, and within two years achieved a peace settlement with Egypt, sharing the Nobel Peace Prize with Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat.

South African Zionist stalwart Harry Hurwitz was a close associate of Begin, dating back to their first meeting in January 1947. As Editor of the Jewish Herald he observed, followed and reported his careers, thoughts and deeds literally every day.

Published in 1977, a few months after Begin became Israel's sixth Prime Minister, and first Prime Minister, outside the ranks of the Labour Party, Hurwitz documented in this book, part of the life, thoughts and achievements of the phenomenal and great Son of Israel , a true leader , Menachem Wolfovitch Begin.

It was Menachem Begin who said, when addressing President Carter, shortly after becoming Prime Minister, stated: " To us, with the experience of physical annihilation and spiritual redemption, national security may mean the lives of every man, woman and child in Israel. Their lives can be, under certain circumstances, directly threatened and put in jeopardy."
Menachem Begin also told Europe, in no uncertain terms: " Europe, whose rivers flow with Jewish blood has no right to lecture Israel on matters which could involve it's life and death, and the safety of every man, woman and child in our country.'
Begin refused to flinch on principles, and worke3d for a peace based on principle, without compromises the rights of Israel or it's people. He stood up for the right of Jews to live in every inch of historic Israel, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, and refused to negotiate with the Palestine Liberation Organization, an organization whose sole aim was and remains the destruction of Israel, and the mass murder of her people.

Since Begin's departure Israel's leaders have been less resolute, with loss of Israeli life the result, and paradoxically more international hatred of Israel from a world of loathsome hypocrisy-the more Israel yields the more the world demands her destruction.
Let us pray for a return of a government in Israel ready to resolutely defend the right of an independent Jewish State in all of Biblical Israel, where her people are safe and secure and free to pursue life , liberty and happiness.
May G-D preserve the Jewish State of Israel forever.
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Book Description
Based on the premise that the moral problems raised by the holocaust can be confronted only in myth, the author shows that Menachem Begin's rhetoric is based on how he views the world through the myth of holocaust and redemption through return. Demonstrates that the actions of the Begin administration, which many observers have found inexplicable, are perfectly logical when viewed from the perspective of the myth of return. Of interest to students of rhetoric, political science, the holocaust, and Zionism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

not the best book
I was shopping for a book on Mr. Begin because I had just finished 'the Revolt' written by him.I wanted a general biography covering the post war years and the struggle in the Political realm as well as details of his decision to invade lebanon and the peace with Egypt.This book, although it details his life, is profoundly popular history.IN effect a new biography needs to be written on Begin because it is hard to find a good one.

A Good History of Menachim Begin!
This was a very good biography of Menachim Begin. This book tells of his earlier career when he was a member of the group
Irgin and was actually wanted dead or alive by the British
government.You will also learn od some of the actions that he
participated in against the British government to get them to leave the Middle East.Also well covered is his career as a
politician.His career in the Knesset as a minority member and a
literal backbencher is well documented.His election as Prime

Minister of Israel is also well covered.The author writes about
the Camp David peace accords and the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear
reactor. You will also learn of Begin winning the Nobel Peace prize. A very good book on the life of Israel.You will enjoy it. ... Read more